Update on Baby Garter

[FitnessFreak]

Originally Posted by OregonHerpaholic

Long, I have no idea.. But I cleaned its quarenteen tank today, and it sat on a nickel(US) and had room left over.. very tiny!



5 bucks EACH?? Can't be a feeder, sounds more like a pet fish.. I get feeder guppies at local private petshop.. ONLY one in 30 miles that carries them.. I have had to go to Petco and have the sales lady pick out the tiniest rosy reds she could get...and they were too big and died before the baby found them... damn fish!!! :

IF you have a real hard time with finding feeder guppies, consider breeding them!! a ten gal tank with a dozen or so Fancy tail guppies, will breed like mad!! Easiest fish to deal with.

Billie

smart, im not sure how to run a aquarium tho lol dont u need all sorts of testing stuff and such?

[suzoo]

For Fancy Guppies, a 10 gal aquarium with undergravel filter and sponge filter, heater (as they are tropical) and water conditioner, such as "Aqua Safe" and some TetraMin fish food. I also sugest lots of floating plants (fake) for the babies to hide in, as parents will eat their offspring. Do not overfeed! It clouds the tank and kills the fish. I feed mine once a day when I turn on their light. Good luck!

[OregonHerpaholic]

Hi all.. A sad update..

The little Northwest garter I was raising has died.. I had it in a quarantine cage(rubbermaid showbox with paper towels).. and placed the cage in my snake room for the day to keep it warm.. and came back this evening to find it died.. Believe it got over heated.. very dehydrated looking. I also lost the new Oregon red-sided the same day.. totally different cage.. both looked shriveled up.. My snake room normally gets about 80f on sunny days, but I am babysitting a red-tail boa.. And I believe the heat from his cage sent the temps up too high. Which just suchs cause He was doing great, eating, pooping fine, finally mite free.. ready to grow up.. Not sure if it died because heat, or something I did.

I think I will stick to head-starting baby native garters before diving into the fancy ones.. I am determined to get it right..

Cheers,

Billie

[mikm]

Sorry to hear that Billie ... So you had an 80F room temp and a heat lamp for the boa ?? If you did use a heat lamp was the lamp illuminating the garters cage as well (intentional or not) or just in the same room ?? Did the garters have water dishes ?? Curious ...

best of luck in your future endeavors,
marian

[OregonHerpaholic]

Well.. yes and no.. Yes on the water.. No the lamp was not facing garter, I was using room heat to warm the baby. BUT I do have a ceramic heat emitter, plus 3 (THREE) heating pads on side and bottom of this boa's cage.

Yes, I did place the garter cage ontop of the boa 5 foot tank.. But it was not super close to lamp. This is the first time I have ever dealt with a large boa that needs high heat. Plus this snake(boa) has came with a respiratory infection and humidity is close to 100%. I didn't think it would be too hot or kill it within just a few hours.

I know it is live and learn, but I hate that something had to die to tell me this was not good... I also lost a rare baby turtle, plus a recently caught oregon red-sided on the same day.. all where in same room, and close to the boa..

[Cazador]

Billie,

I'm really sorry to hear about this catastrophy. It really stinks! I don't know if this applies to you at all, but it seems like a good place to give a word of caution about the dangers of direct sunlight (even through a window) on a snake's enclosure. This is another common way for snakes to become overheated in a "normal" setting. It's just like when a cat sits in the window or the couch heats up in the sunlight, except it can be lethal to snakes... especially young ones

Back to you, Billie... my sincere condolences once again.

[Odie]

Totally a bummer, sorry to hear mon

[drache]

oh man
I'm so sorry
what an awful thing to have happen